QOTD: Is Buick a Premium, Luxury, Upmarket Auto Brand in America, or Not?

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

Use whatever designation you must, but you know what we’re asking. In 2017, is Buick one of America’s premium brands? A competitor for Lexus and Audi? A rival for BMW and Jaguar?

On July 19, Buick released the first images, specs, and pricing details for the next-generation 2018 Buick Regal GS. While dropping the price of the basic Regal to $25,915 — not that much money for a 250-horsepower 2.0T midsize hatchback — Buick apparently improved the sporty GS in every way. The result: the GS is only ten bucks away from being a $40,000 car. The more powerful Ford Fusion Sport is $5,510 cheaper. The Audi S4 is some $12,000 more costly.

But Buick is more than just an intangible no-man’s-land price point. Buick is also a brand that sends mixed messages: advertising that suggests it’s not worthy of praise on the one hand; the new Avenir sub-brand on the other.

What say you: is Buick just another luxury wannabe, or is Buick selling premium goods at a discount?

Sitting in the back seat of my mother’s white 1986 Buick Century, I had no idea as a child that Buick was, had ever been, or ever would be a luxury brand. Decades later, driving a quiet, relatively common, 138-horsepower Buick Encore, a staple of Buick circa twenty-teens, I wondered if Buick was, had ever been, or ever would be a luxury brand.

But forget what other people think, and don’t assume you know what I think. For the purposes of this QOTD, dismiss the belief that Regal GS buyers will never be prospective Audi S4 owners who just decided to save $12K. If only for a moment, reject the idea that your neighbours would never cross-shop the Buick Envision with the blue-collar Chevrolet Equinox.

You decide. On your ledger, in your mind, with your money — is Buick a true American luxury auto brand? Is Buick forever resigned to toil in mainstream obscurity with Chevrolet, Ford, and Honda, or does Buick earn unusual status as Detroit’s Acura?

[Images: General Motors]

Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars.

Timothy Cain
Timothy Cain

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  • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Jul 21, 2017

    As pointed out above, it's sort of middling entry-luxury with Acura and Volvo. It's not really all that premium, and it's not upmarket.

  • Thornmark Thornmark on Jul 22, 2017

    Buick is GM's Chinese-driven brand that also sells some product in their secondary, less important market, the USA. And no it's not luxury, it's Sino luxury.

  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
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